Report: TE Hunter Long’s injury not believed to be season-ending

The Miami Dolphins quite clearly have big plans for tight end Hunter Long after choosing to draft him in the 3rd-round of the 2021 NFL draft. Miami’s decision came despite already having three capable NFL players in the room from the 2020 season and a free agent addition of another hybrid player who can contribute in similar ways. So for all of that to be true and Miami to still draft Long, it should tell you plenty about what Miami things of the former Boston College player.

But one thing we don’t know about Long these days is what his availability is going to look like moving forward — Long was carted off the practice field over the weekend in Miami’s first major injury scare. And with Brian Flores always being reluctant to talk about players’ personal or medical situations, one would assume Miami will string out the status of Hunter Long for as long as they need to; both for competitive advantage and privacy reasons.

But Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post has provided a promising report on the updated condition of Long after his weekend injury — Schad reports that the injury is not believed to be season-ending.

Such would be a big win for the Dolphins as they look to maintain as much depth in the passing offense as they possibly can. If the Dolphins can slowly phase Long into reps down the stretch after he takes whatever time he needs to heal from this injury, the team can consider that a bonus. Perhaps Long will need to start the year on Injured Reserve or the PUP list. Either way, it sounds like the team is hopeful Long’s rookie season isn’t over before it began — and that those high hopes for Long are still in play for Miami for this 2021 season and not just down the road.